Milan therapists attempt to expose the customer for change in the family system which will be the member with the most motivation to change. The therapists would work with them since changing that one member will produce change in the whole family system.

Session is composed of 5 stages:

1. Presession: tentative hypotheses are made about the family system and how the system is maintained by faulty attempts
2. Session: the hypotheses are tested and refined after gathering additional data from everyone in the system
3. Intersession: the team of additional Milan therapists would meet with the co-therapists while the family waits
4. Intervention: therapists return to deliver the intervention
- interventions may include: positive connotation in which therapists reframe the problem in a way that the family members are not blamed or labeled as bad; rituals by which directives were given to engage the entire family in some behavior which exaggerated or broke the rules and family myths. Family members are given permission to thank each other for their respective symptoms (functional reason for homeostasis) and parents can alternate days for parental responsibilities.
5. Post-session: Milan team analyzes the family's reaction and then plans for next session